Bedtime Stories and Goodnight Kisses
by JustAWhisperAway
Summary: Enjolras tells Odette a story, and reveals a secret. (Odette is Grantaire's daughter, and she is 3 and a half years old.)


Enjolras & Odette "Bedtime Stories & Goodnight Kisses"

"Tell me a goodnight story, Enjy?"  
It's 9:00pm, about an hour and a half past Odette's bedtime, but she's managed to get Enjolras to let her stay up with him. He's wrapped around her little dimpled finger when she smiles at him like that, doe-eyed, and the light in them is just as bright as Grantaire's.  
"What would you like the story to be about, kiddo?"  
She looks down for a moment, contemplating what she wants to hear tonight. And then she's got her wide eyes, and smiles just as big as before.  
"Anything!"  
He smiles back at her, tucks her in, and makes sure she's snug and comfortable before he begins. "Are you ready?"  
"Yes, Enjy," she replies, holding his hand, anticipating her special story, told only for her. He clears his throat, then begins.  
"Once upon a time, there was a little boy, with big brown eyes, and an even bigger heart. His name was R. R was in school, and loved to paint and play piano. He was the most wonderful artist, both in music and in his artistic abilities. He painted all sorts of amazing things, things like dragons, and mermaids, and fairies, -"  
"-and pirates?" she asks, eyes wide.  
"Yes, and pirates," Enjolras says to her, a fond smile playing at his lips. She's so much like her father, he thinks. All full of wonder and curiosity and imagination.  
"And he loved the swings on the playground. He'd pump his legs as hard as he could, to get higher and higher. It made him feel like he could fly. And he did. He flew until he couldn't anymore. But some people, though wonderful as he was, didn't think so."  
"Bad guys!" she exclaims. "There's always bad guys," and scrunches up her nose in disgust.  
"These bad guys were awful to R. Bad girls, too. They were horrible to him, calling him ugly and saying he wasn't talented. They were,  
at heart, only angry because he was so much greater than they'd ever be, though they'd never admit that they were jealous. One day, a day that R was flying, almost able to touch the sun, the bad boys and girls came up to him at the swing set, and told him to get down or they would hurt him. R was so scared, so he did what they said. Then one of the bad girls took his swing, and they all laughed at him. They called him names,  
saying that he was ugly, that nobody liked him, they even said that nobody loved him. Just as they were about to hurt him, another boy came up.  
'Leave him alone!' he cried, and they gave him dirty looks, and all walked away angry. The new boy, with golden hair, walked up to R, who was now sitting on the ground with his head in his hands, and asked, 'Are you alright?'  
He hears R sniff, and says to him, 'They don't know what they're talking about.'  
He puts a hand on R's knee to comfort him somehow, and tells him 'I don't think you're ugly.' And R lifts his head up a bit, his beautiful brown eyes now red-rimmed and watery, but he wipes them with his sleeve.  
'Really?' R says to him, looking timid still, almost as if he doesn't believe the golden-haired boy.  
'No. I think you're beautiful.' The golden-haired boy says."  
By now she's looking sleepy, but he can see that she's fighting to stay awake. She wants to hear the ending.  
"'My name's R,' he says, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.  
The boy smiles back, his blue-green eyes sparkling. It may be just a letter to others, but to him it was a beautiful name. It was beautiful in it's simplicity."  
As Enjolras is about to reveal the boy's name, he looks down at her, with her wide eyes, hanging on his every word, and with a fond, nostalgic smile, he continues.  
"'My name's Enjolras.'"  
"It was you!" she cries, wide awake now, the biggest grin he's seen in a while. By now, though neither of them are aware, Grantaire is standing just outside her door, listening as intently as she, careful not to make a sound. There's a tear in his eye as he remembers.  
"But wait, Enjy, who was R?" she asks, her entire face glowing, filled with wonder.  
He doesn't answer for a moment, and instead leans down and kisses her on the forehead. As he's almost to the door, he turns around and says to her quietly, "You'll see."  
And with a wink and a beautiful smile, the golden-haired man walks out the door, and carefully closes it behind him, to find Grantaire standing just outside the door, his hand to his mouth, his other arm rested over his stomach, gently clutching his side.  
"I can't believe you remember that," he says, while Enjolras wipes away a tear with his thumb from Grantaire's cheek before it falls, and squeezes his hand gently for a moment.  
"I'd never forget it." 


End file.
